I met Tom when I took his Next Level Copy class through AdHouse. Tom pours his vast advertising experience - seriously, he's worked on some amazing campaigns - into his current passion as co-dean of AdHouse, the home for aspiring AdNerds. Also, as host of the A-List Podcast, he discovers how other creatives got their start in the business. In our interview, Tom outlines what advertising has the power to do and why admitting you're bad at something is actually a good thing. Spoiler Alert - it's because you can grow. Have a listen.
The Taste Gap - Ira Glass
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
2 Short Videos Inspired by Ira Glass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91FQKciKfHI (David Shiyang Liu)
https://vimeo.com/85040589 (Daniel Sax)
Tom's Recommendations for Your Bookshelf
The Copy Workshop Workbook by Bruce Bendinger
How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy
The Book of Gossage by Howard Luck Gossage
Junior: How to Write Your Way Ahead in Advertising by Thomas Kemeny
